A Mother and her 'As Good As' Son
by thelovelymystery
Summary: A month after the death of one of her sons, Molly Weasley is still having difficulties sleeping. During the quiet hours of the night, after the members of her busy household have gone to bed, Molly finds herself crying in the kitchen once more. Only one person hears her sobs. Is Harry the only one that get through to her and make her feel better in this depressing time?


**Disclaimer:** Everything belongs to JK Rowling, despite how much I wish I could lay claim to it all

**Rating:** K

**Summary:** A month after the death of one of her sons, Molly Weasley is still having difficulties sleeping. During the quiet hours of the night, after the members of her busy household have gone to bed, Molly finds herself crying in the kitchen once more. Only one person hears her sobs. Is Harry the only one that get through to her and make her feel better in this depressing time? Part one of two-part companion piece.

**Author's Notes:** This is both my very first fanfiction and my very first story that I've posted for other's to read. Please review and critique, so I can expand and fine-tune my writing skills. Thanks! I truly hope that you will enjoy reading this. I'll admit that it ended completley differently than I had intended it too. I hope it's okay.

**Time-Frame:** June of 1998

* * *

The Burrow was silent, with the exception of the odd snore. Every single member of her family was asleep, leaving Molly awake in depressing solitude. Her hands were tightly grasped around a steaming cup of tea that sat untouched. A wooly blanket was draped around her shoulders, giving her a warm hug that she needed so desperately. It had only been a month and a couple of days since she lost one of her sons, one of her babies. Memories and grief clouded her drowsy mind, disabling her from sleeping.

A single tear fell from her face and onto the oak wood of the kitchen table. She had hoped that would be the only one to fall, but before she knew it, her vision blurred and her face became instantly wet. It was as if that one teardrop, was a dam holding the rest back. Now that it was gone, the rest were free to fall. And that's exactly what they did.

Memories of her Fred dashed through her mind, playing like one of those Muggle 'moving pictures' Arthur always fantasied about. She was so overwhelmed by them that she never noticed someone enter the room and pull out the chair next to her, until the person sat down and handed her handkerchief to wipe her eyes on. She took it gratefully, wiped her eyes, and mumbled a 'thanks', before she looked up to see who the person was. She had full heartedly expected it to be Arthur or Ginny, both of whom often woke up in the night to check on her. However, when she turned, readying herself to meet his blue eyes, or her brown ones, she was met with a pair of warm emerald one, hidden beneath a layer of framed glass.

"Harry!" She said, forcing a smile upon her tear-streaked face. "What are you doing up, dear?"

Her 'as good as' son returned the sad smile. "Sleep hasn't exactly been coming easily to me lately. I was just up, staring at the ceiling, in my - Charlie's - room, when I thought I heard you down here. I wanted to make sure you were okay, Mrs. Weasley."

Molly opened her mouth, preparing to lie and say she was fine, but instead found that very different words, the truth, began to pour instead. "I don't know how to be okay, anymore, Harry. I know he died a hero, but he didn't need to. I would do anything to have him here with me now." She raised her hand to interrupt Harry before he could apologize yet again for Fred dying because of him. "It's not your fault and I don't want to hear it. It's V-V-Voldemort's. If it wasn't for him, my son would be alive, my family wouldn't be broke, and George would be whole."

"I just can't help but wonder where Fred is now and whether he's happy and okay. When I sleep, I have nightmares of him being alone and scared, stuck that way for eternity." As Molly continued, her voice lowered and sobs broke into the sentence at random intervals. She hung her head, but every few seconds her eyes darted towards the Weasley family clock, that stood on the other side of the table. The hands that represented all the living members of the family were pointed safely at 'home', while Fred's was pointed at 'lost', where it had been since his death.

Harry's heart ached, listening to the despair in her voice. For a moment he was silent, as he thought of what he could say to even try to make it better. At first, he came up blank until he remembered his talk with Dumbledore at the pearly King's Cross Station. As he thought back to that moment, he was finally filled with the strength he needed to tell Molly was she needed to hear, the most. He couldn't handle seeing the woman who was like a mother to him, wallow is sorrow for another moment.

"When Tom Riddle killed me in the forest, I think I... crossed over, to the 'otherside'. I guess it could've been a dream, I'm pretty sure it was real. While I was 'there', I was with Dumbledore at the King's Cross Station, of all places. He told me I had a choice. I could board the train and move on, or go back. Of course, I chose to go back but somehow, I know if I were to chose to move on, I would've gone to a new place, where I could've seen my parents and everyone else we have lost." He took a deep breath before continuing. Molly was looking at him with shock in her chocolate brown eyes, but she was hanging onto his every word. Despite the fact that she had heard this story several times, hearing it still horrified and amazed her as much as it had when she first heard it. "That's where Fred is, Mrs. Weasley. He's over there with the rest of them. My mum and dad, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, your brothers', Colin, Dumbledore, and everyone else. He'll be far from alone and one day he'll be happy again. Just like us, he's grieving for what he lost. But he didn't just lose one person, he lost his whole family."

As Harry spoke, he felt the truth in his words. Even though there was no way to be a hundred percent certain, in what he was saying, he was fairly sure it was true. He knew Fred was in a better place with everyone else, watching them. In fact, he was fairly certain that Fred would be watching them in mock anger, urging them to 'move on, laugh, and be happy' while reminding them that 'they would one day meet each other again'. In fact, he told her so.

While he had been talking, Harry's eyes had been watching the clock. Now that he was done with his inspiring speech, his eyes wandered back over to Molly, who was staring at him with dry eyes and the first true smile he had seen on her face since the battle.

"I can only imagine the pranks that he could be pulling with not only your father, Sirius, Remus, and Tonks, but my jokester brothers as well," she said, laughing. Harry instantly joined in. Before long, they were laughing harder than the joke permitted, with tears in their eyes. Unlike all the other ones shed since the battle, these were not full of grief and sorrow. They were filled with humour and hope for a better world.

When the laughter died back down, Harry decided that it was time for him to try once again to sleep. After all, he had Auror Training the next day. After giving Mrs. Weasley a comforting hug, he bid her a goodnight, reminded her that Fred wouldn't of wanted to see her crying, and headed back to his room.

After he left, Molly found herself watching the door that he had just exited from, feeling happier and oddly lighter than she had in a month. She was sure that Harry was right - Fred was in a better place with people who would watch over him. While he may be feeling lost, like the family clock kept reminding them all, he would move on, just like the rest of them had too. She knew he would be okay.

For the first time, she thought of everything she still had instead of everything she had lost. Yes, one of her sons was gone, and nothing would ever make that empty feeling in her chest truly go away, but she had so much to be thankful for too: one day she would meet her redhaired pranksters again, but until then, she still had her husband and their other fiery haired children. She had almost lost another child, her only black haired one, but by the power of his mother's love and the magnitude of Tom Riddle's greed, she had gotten him back.

She had lost one son in the midst of a war, but had somehow managed to gain another.


End file.
